When you hear about NBA players and gambling, it’s usually not anything positive. Stories about the extravagance of Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley as they blew millions at the Vegas casinos don’t exactly paint the stars in a favorable light. But at least they fared better than Antoine Walker, who is millions of dollars in debt and facing various charges due to his unwise gambling practices, unwise business ventures, allegedly committing fraud and more. That’s why I wanted to share this story about Shawn Marion’s poker tournament, because it’s something positive for the NBA and gambling.

For those who don’t know Shawn Marion, he’s a forward who is currently with the Dallas Mavericks but has spent most of his time with the Phoenix Suns. He is known for being as extraordinary on offense as he is terrible on defense. It seems that he also loves playing poker and giving to charity, which made hosting a celebrity poker tournament a no-brainer.

On August 14, the Shawn Marion Celebrity Poker Tournament was held at the Choctaw Casino Resort in Durant, Oklahoma. At the tournament, players raised nearly $70,000 for the Shawn Marion Foundation. The poker tournament has a Texas no-limit hold’em game that drew 181 poker players from around the nation. Aside from Marion, the only “celebrities” I can count in attendance are Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and two poker players who have starred in the reality TV show Amazing Race, Maria Ho and Tiffany Michelle. Professional poker players Annie Duke and T.J. Cloutier were also in attendance.

Even without a lot of big-name celebrities, the poker tournament was still a success. Though the charity was the main attraction, the top players in the tournament still won prizes. The guy who won it all took a seat in the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event. By the way, his name is James Dean, but I don’t think he’s related to the actor or the sausage guy. The poker player who came in second won an all-expenses paid strip to Hawai’i. The third-place finisher won a seat in the T.J. Cloutier/Choctaw Poker Classic. The player who finished fourth won a nice watch and the fifth-place finisher won two tickets to a Mavericks game and dinner with Shawn Marion. All of those prizes were donated by sponsors.

The Shawn Marion Foundation is dedicated to helping single-parent families and providing life-changing opportunities for the children. That is accomplished by providing grants and scholarships to the children, among other things.

Hugh Hefner, founder and CEO of Playboy Enterprises, knows what men like. Two of those things are hot naked women and gambling. So it was only a matter of time before the idea of Playboy Casinos came about. During a recent speech, Hefner announced plans to open brick and mortar casinos in England and Macau.

It seems that there is a recent documentary on Hefner called Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel. I was unaware. In any case, at the release of the film, Hefner gave a speech in which he talked about the future of the company. He stated that they are “moving away from the adult programming because it’s not the future.” Magazine and video sales have been down in recent years thanks to the Internet and its ability to provide hot nude women, including some of the very same material from Playboy via illegally republished photos and videos.

Playboy Enterprises is more than just the magazine and videos, though. The brand is used on underwear and lingerie, jewelry, T-shirts, wine, makeup, sunglasses and more. Hefner thinks that the casino business is a good venture for the brand. In 2007, they opened the Playboy Online Casino, though it only lasted two years before shutting down. The Playboy Club has been located at the Palms Resort Casino in Las Vegas for years and guests can play a variety of casino games with the famous Bunny Dealers.

Hefner now plans to open land-based casinos of his own by bringing Playboy Casinos to England and Macau, the Chinese territory that has overtaken Vegas as the number one gambling destination in the world.

Different people have different reactions when they hear the phrase “super size me.” Some people think, Mmm…extra food. More fries…bigger drink. Some people think, What, do you want me to be fat? No thanks! Others think of the 2004 documentary about fast food excess and its correlation to obesity. At Lucky Red Casino, they’re hoping you think that if a little bit is good, a lot is better. That’s why they’re holding the Super Size Me casino promotion this weekend.

The Super Size Me promotion gives a casino bonus to players who make any size deposit, but they super size the deposit for those who spend more money. Here’s the deal: If you deposit $200 or less, the online casino will offer you a 60% match bonus on that deposit. If you deposit more than $200, though, they will not only match that $200 with a 60% bonus, but they will also match you $100 on the remaining amount.

Though not an unlimited coupon, it can be redeemed up to five times. The Super Size Me bonus is good for playing online slots and online keno. The bonus must be wagered at least 25 times before you can make a withdrawal. The coupon code for that promotion is SUPERSIZE.

There are two other promotions going on this weekend at Lucky Red Casino as well. The first is a 60% match bonus of up to $1,000 on deposits for online slots, keno and scratch cards. This casino bonus has a coupon code of CELEBRATIONS60 and it can be redeemed 30 times. Like the Super Size Me promotion, this bonus must be wagered 25 times before making a withdrawal.

The other promotion is a 45% match bonus up to $1,000 on deposits for online blackjack and video poker. This bonus has a coupon code of FUNHOUSE45 and it can be redeemed 30 times. This promotion must be wagered at least 50 times before a cashout is allowed.

To take advantage of the casino bonuses available this weekend, visit Lucky Red Casino.

This summer marks 40 years of business for a casino in the Cap d’Agde resort in the French Riviera and they are celebrating in style. Or at least, as much style as you can save sans clothing. That’s right folks; I’m talking about a nude poker tournament.

A part of the Cap d’Agde resort – called the Village Naturiste – is a separate section reserved for nudists. During the summer, the resort often gets up to 40,000 visitors. The nude section of the resort is well known among the nudist community (or so I am told) and attracts visitors from all over the world.

The poker tournament isn’t for strip poker. Instead, all of the players will start out nude. It will be just like any other poker tournament, except for an extreme lack of clothes. At least you’ll know no one has a card hidden up their sleeve.

The date of the upcoming nude poker tournament has not yet been scheduled, but it is being aggranged by the Cap d’Agde casino as well as the Union of Professionals of Naturist Tourism. If you’re a nudist who loves poker, there will be no better place to be this summer than this casino in the French Riviera. Of course, even if you aren’t a nudist or a poker player, there are fewer places I’d rather be than the French Riviera. For a luxurious vacation destination full of sun and a paradise setting, few places can compare. At least, that’s what I take from the Travel Channel (I’ve never actually been there).

Though there is still a lot to plan – including inviting professional poker players or celebrities who might want to take part in the historic event – word is that the event will have a buy-in of € 150.

While looking to online gambling as a source of revenue has become a hot trend in other parts of Canada, the province of Newfoundland and Labrador is not going to jump on that bandwagon. The province’s premier has said that he and the government opposes introducing online gambling to the province.

British Columbia already launched North America’s first online casino, though a security problem caused them to shut it down until the issue is resolved. Quebec plans to launch an online casino this fall. Ontario is looking to launch an online casino by 2012. As for Newfoundland, the answer seems to be no – at least for now.

The Atlantic Lottery Corporation, which operates offline gambling in several provinces, including Newfoundland, recently announced that the province could generate $50 million by allowing online gambling sites. Danny Williams, the Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, said that the province generates enough income from alcohol and tobacco sales and they don’t need online gambling to make ends meet.

Though online gambling is not legal in Newfoundland and Labrador, offline gambling, including a lottery, is. Though their premier said that the revenue from online gambling isn’t needed, it’s worth noting that a March report by Finance Minister Tom Marshall stated that for the 2010 fiscal year, the province expects a $295 million budget deficit. Read GDP is down 8.9% and unemployment is at 15.5%.

The good news is that personal income and disposable income grew by 3.9% and 4.7%, which may give residents more ability to play at online casinos. Also, the budget deficit was reduced by 60% from the previous year. That means that although the economic situation in Newfoundland isn’t great, it is getting better.

The owner of two payment processing companies linked to online gambling websites is now out more than $13 million. Ahmad Khawaja agreed to forfeit $13.3 million that had been seized by the FBI in June of 2009 in order for his case to be settled.

Khawaja owns Allied Wallet and Allied Systems, two online payment processors that the U.S. federal government claimed were used to launder money. Specifically, the payment processors were accused of using overseas banks, mostly those in Cyprus, to funnel money back and forth between online gambling websites, such as Poker Stars, and the players.

Whether there is anything wrong with processing payments for online gambling is a gray area in the United States. UIGEA was passed in 2006, but it never defines what constitutes unlawful online gambling and no federal ban exists. Still, in the name of UIGEA, Khawaja was targeted and prosecuted for processing those payments and laundering money.

After settling the case with the authorities, Allied Wallet and Allied Systems are still accepting payments, though it is not known whether they will still be associated with online gambling sites such as Poker Stars.

Loyalty points are a good way for casinos to reward their regular customers. It’s a way of saying “thank you” for returning to the casino and playing there time and again. At Villento Casino, players earn loyalty points a variety of ways.

For starters, anyone who opens a real-money account at the online casino is then entered in their Loyalty Club at the bottom level. There are 4 status levels in the club, with everyone starting at Club level and moving into the Silver level once they accrue 50,000 loyalty points during the month. Players are moved into the Gold level once they have earned 100,000 loyalty points. The Platinum level is for members who earn 200,000 loyalty points. The loyalty points can be redeemed for cash at any time.

Players earn loyalty points for real-money wagers on any game at the casino. Players at higher levels earn more loyalty points for the money they spend and there are other perks as well, such as larger bonuses and lower play-through requirements.

Right now, a casino promotion is helping players accrue loyalty points with their current promotion. In the Triple Play promotion, players earn triple points for playing any of a select group of online slots. Those games include Mooshine, Polar Bash, Rainbow’s End, Sunset Showdown, Voila, Wealth Spa and Witch Drive. This promotion ends soon – August 19 to be exact.

To take advantage of triple loyalty points for playing online slots, visit Villento Casino.

An online casino in the UK has announced the opening of the first live online casino. Of course, all online casinos are live in a certain sense, but this is an innovation that until now had not been fully incorporated into a casino website. Online casinos have long tried to recreate the environment of setting foot in a real brick and mortar casino. They try to do so through 3-D models, interactive gameplay and the recent trend of using video footage of live dealers.

Those “live dealers” are often pre-recorded videos, though, so even though you’re seeing video footage of a real dealer, it’s not live in the sense that it’s not happening as you watch. The Palace Casino, though, has launched a live online casino where events are shown on vide in real time. By virtue of a UK gambling license – which is rare for online casinos – the brick and mortar Palace Casino has partnered with the online casino to give players the same experience online as in the land-based casino.

Players sit at a table online that reflects sitting at a table in the brick and mortar casino. There are live dealers who deal cards to the players online in real time. All of it is done to enhance the experience of online gambling in such a way that it is more interactive and feels more like visiting a land casino. Yesterday, the Palace Casino cut the ribbon on their live online casino. It will be interesting to see if other online casinos follow suit.

Word is that an online gambling operator is considering following the Chat Roulette model for social media. That is according to sources I’ve found online, so it must be true. Anyway, for those not in the know, Chat Roulette is a social media website where people turn on a webcam and then find a random person to chat with online. If they don’t want to chat with that person, they hit a button that brings them to another random person in the world. The website has been compared to a combination of speed dating and forum chat rooms.

According to some online sources, unknown online gambling operators are considering a similar model. In this model, one can assume that players log in and then play a game against a random person. Once the game is over, if they want to play against someone else, they can pick another player at random. The setup could be good for live head-to-head games.

Of course, the website would have to guard against underage members and players in areas where online gambling is illegal, but that is a problem with any online casino. Here, instead of playing against a computer program, players could be competing directly against other players. That would add a new level of interactivity to online gambling, which would be an exciting innovation for many.

So is this online casino coming soon? I don’t know. In fact, I don’t know if it’s ever coming. There is little information and it’s not coming from the most reliable of sources. It does have me thinking, though, that more interactivity with online casinos would be a good thing.

If you’re looking for some good casino tournaments to play this week, Millionaire Casino has several from which to choose. If you’re a fan of online roulette, there is a roulette tournament ending soon, August 19. It is the Wheel Deal tournament and it is played on the American Roulette game. There is a $2 buy-in and players compete for a share of the pot. Once that tournament ends, another one begins, running from August 19 to August 26.

For video poker fans, there is the Jacks or Better Challenger tournament, which began yesterday and runs through Thursday. That video poker tournament has a $5 entry fee and players compete for the pot. There is also the month-long video poker tournament, which is played on the Deuces Wild game.

For fans of online blackjack, there is the Head3Head blackjack tournament, which is played on the US Blackjack game. It began yesterday and runs through Thursday. The blackjack tournament has a $5 buy-in and players compete for the pot.

There are even more options for fans of online slots. The third part of the Slottery tournament is going on now. Beginning on August 15 and running until August 22, the slot tournament is played on the Last King of Egypt game. There is a $5 buy-in and players compete for a share of the pot.

There are also daily slot tournaments. Each of those tournaments have a $3 entry fee and players compete for a share of the pot. Today, the Play for the Pot slot tournament is played on the X Marks the Spot game.

More information can be found on the tournaments page of Millionaire Casino.